Syria crisis: Kofi Annan to hold talks with Assad

Witnesses report troops and tanks massing near Idlib, where anti-government protests continue

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has arrived in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad, in a fresh diplomatic bid to end the violence.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Mr Annan would call for an immediate ceasefire by the army and the opposition.
Activists said government forces killed 77 people across Syria on Friday.
Earlier, UN aid chief Valerie Amos said "limited progress" had been made on taking aid to the worst-hit areas in Syria, but much more was needed.
Baroness Amos said she had requested full access to the worst-hit areas, but the government had asked for more time.
Calls for reform that began with pro-democracy protests a year ago have degenerated into violence that has brought Syria to the brink of civil war.
The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence.
'All violence must stop' Mr Annan arrived at Damascus airport on Saturday and was met by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, before being taken to a hotel in the capital ahead of the talks with the president.
Mr Annan's meeting with President Assad was earlier announced in New York by Mr Ban, the UN secretary-general.
Mr Ban said he had held a conference call with Mr Annan and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi.
"All three of us share the same concerns, same priorities and same approaches," he said.
"Our priority is, first of all, all violence must stop, whether by government forces [or] opposition forces.
"I have very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure that there must be an immediate ceasefire."
He said that if a ceasefire could not be agreed simultaneously, then government troops should stop first, followed by the opposition.
Mr Ban said Mr Annan - a former UN secretary-general - would also meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus and then hold talks with opposition leaders after leaving the country on Sunday.
The UN has called for "dialogue" to end the crisis, although opposition groups have already rejected the idea of talks with President Assad.
Mr Ban also echoed Baroness Amos's calls for Syria to allow aid agencies access to areas badly hit by the violence.
He said that what she had seen in the devastated Baba Amr district of Homs showed there was a "quite serious, alarming situation in terms of humanitarian assistance and human rights".
On Friday, Baroness Amos said the government had indicated that an initial humanitarian assessment could be made within the next week, and that a UN team in Damascus was ready to get to work.